Flocculation of starch-coated solidified emulsion droplets and calcium carbonate particles

In papermaking, many colloidal particles are added to a pulp fiber suspension to improve paper properties. Given the right conditions, these different colloids can interact and flocculate. Examples of papermaking colloids are fillers and internal sizing agents, which improve opacity and hydrophobicity of paper, respectively. Internal sizing agents (added at the wet end of a paper machine) are commonly solidified emulsion droplets, stabilized by cationic starch and other stabilizers. We studied the interaction of a common internal sizing agent, alkyl ketene dimer (AKD), with calcium carbonate fillers. AKD is a liquid above 50-65 degrees C (depending on alkyl chain length), which can be emulsified above its melting point in the presence of a stabilizer, resulting, after cooling, in solid colloidal particles close to 1 microm in size. We investigated the interaction of AKD particles, stabilized by cationic starch, with precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) particles. Pure PCC particles are positively charged, but they become negative in process waters. Flocculation experiments with positively charged AKD and negatively charged PCC were performed using a photometric dispersion analyzer. Instead of the expected heteroflocculation between AKD and PCC, we observed PCC homoflocculation and AKD homoflocculation, results confirmed by SEM. The results are explained by the transfer of starch from AKD to PCC, resulting in PCC flocculation by starch and AKD destabilization due to depletion of the stabilizer.